


Present Pinball

by JA_Authoress



Series: Muggle Mishaps [14]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 1978, Christmas, M/M, it's a little domestic, kind of, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-06 04:01:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5402300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JA_Authoress/pseuds/JA_Authoress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>December 11 and 12, 1978<br/>Sirius decides he needs to start shopping for presents.  Today.  Right now.  Moony, why aren't you moving, presents must be bought!</p>
<p>“I’m ready to go!” Sirius returned to the living room, dressed in one of Remus’s Christmas jumpers.</p>
<p>“Ready to go where? Did I agree to go somewhere?”</p>
<p>“Well, not exactly, but we’ve got to go Christmas shopping at some point, and today is just as good as any other day, right?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Presents Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone who's left a kudos/comment so far in this series. 
> 
> You've got 2 chapters today because I have to go to a Christmas party tomorrow night, and I'll be too tired to write and post anything~
> 
> Kudos to my best friend for help with the presents and the title (again)
> 
> Please leave a kudos/comment if you enjoyed it ^_^
> 
> Have a great day! And remember, it's the quality of the present, not quantity.

December 11, 1978  
10:16 a.m.

It was one of those rare days, where Remus actually had the evening shift. He sat in Sirius’s chair, quietly reading a book and sipping on his tea. He still had around 4 hours to go until his shift.

Hopefully, it would remain quiet for at least—

“Moony!”

… Well, there went his morning.

“Good morning, Pads, what are you doing back so early? I thought you had Auror training.”

Sirius brushed off the soot from the fireplace and waved off his question flippantly.

“How’s your arse?”

Remus choked on his tea.

“My what?!”

“Your arse!” Sirius repeated with a grin. “You fell half a dozen times yesterday, I’m only concerned about your well being.”

Remus wiped off the spit and tea that had fallen on his book and jumper, muttering obscenities under his breath.

“What was that?” Sirius was suddenly right in front of him. His hair was up in a bun, and he smelled like cinnamon and sweat. They must have done some physical training this morning.

“Nothing!—I mean, I’m fine. My arse is fine. My elbows are a little bruised though.”

Sirius took it as a good answer, and sauntered off to his bedroom. Remus let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“I’m ready to go!” the Animagus returned to the living room, dressed in one of Remus’s Christmas jumpers.

“Ready to go where? Did I agree to go somewhere?”

“Well, not exactly, but we’ve got to go Christmas shopping at some point, and today is just as good as any other day, right?”

“I have to work at half two.”

“I’ll be finished by then, I promise!”

11:21 a.m.

Sirius didn’t say anything. He just stared out into the sea of muggle shoppers.

“Padfoot, you all right there, mate?”

Sirius nodded absently.

“Now, who are we shopping for first?”

“Me!”

Sirius took off into the crowd. Remus just missed catching the tail end of his scarf.

“Padfoot! Bugger.”

11:47 a.m.

“You can’t just run off like that!” Remus scolded. He felt rather like the parent of a small, incredibly excited puppy. He finally found Sirius in front of a Christmas display on the second level.

“But Moony! There’s so much to see, and we don’t have a lot of time to see it.”

“Bloody right, there’s no way I’m leaving you here on your own.”

“Maybe I could get James, and we could go shopping—”

“No.”

“But Moony—”

“I’ll tell Lily.”

“Fine.

“Now, let’s head back downstairs. We’ll work our way up. Do you have any idea what you want to get everyone?”

“Something really muggle.”

“Well, that certainly narrows it down.”

*thirty minutes later*

“Padfoot, we’re not going to get any shopping done if you don’t stop buying things from the food court.”

“I’m a growing lad, don’t judge me. Oh, look at the display in that window! Are you sure that’s not charmed?”

*one hour after that*

He lost Sirius again. Then there was an announcement over the loudspeaker.

“Would the parents of a rather large child crying for his ‘Moony’ please comes to the menswear section on level floor.”

“Bugger.”

1:45 p.m.

“Again, I swear, I wasn’t crying. I was just a little lost—everything looked the same up there—and I couldn’t very well Apparate or use the point-me spell. There are muggles everywhere!”

“Uhhuh. Have you bought anything?”

“Umm.” Sirius looked down at his feet awkwardly. “I looked at a lot of stuff though. Give me one more hour.”

Remus rubbed his face. Although it was actually kind of entertaining to watch Sirius bounce around the shopping mall like he was in a pinball machine, it was also exhausting.

“I’m absolutely knackered. I’ve got to get to work soon anyways. I might head over early to try and get some sleep before my shift starts. We can start again tomorrow, okay?” Remus had to add after seeing Sirius’s smile drop a bit.

He perked back up.

“I swear I’ll be more prepared tomorrow, Moony!”

“Great, now, promise me you’ll head straight back to the flat. I won’t be able to concentrate at work with the thought of you running amuck in the muggle part of London without me.”

“Don’t worry mate. Straight home! I’ll meet up with Prongs in a bit. See you in the morning!”

Remus watched at Sirius slipped across the street and into the alley. Once he heard the telltale crack, he started on his way to work. A few hours to get mentally prepared for some serious shopping tomorrow.


	2. Presents Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Present hunting continues! Some actual shopping actually gets done today.

December 12, 1978  
8:33 a.m.

Remus was awoken from a deep sleep by the smell of French Toast. Normally, that would get him out of bed with a smile, but with two days to go until the full moon, he merely grunted and tried to burrow further into his quilt.

His door creaked open.

“Moony? Remus, you awake?”

The werewolf grunted and poked his head out.

“What?”

Sirius stood in the doorway (sans shirt, again) levitating a tray.

“Well, you were really tired yesterday, and I know it’s getting pretty close to the full moon. I thought you could use some extra energy for today. We’re going back to the shopping mall, remember?”

Remus sat up and nodded, rubbing at his face while Sirius settled the tray on his lap. He went straight for the tea.

Perfect, as always.

“Do you have a list?”

“Well, not exactly, but I have some ideas!” Sirius added quickly after Remus gave him a ‘look’.

“Hmm.” Remus took a few bites of French Toast (how the bloody hell does it make it so damn delicious?!) before responding. “We’ll head over at half nine.”

“Ta, Moony!”

*two hours later*

“Padfoot. Sirius. We’ve been at this for the past hour. You stared at this display for forty-five minutes yesterday. It’s the exact same.”

“I swear they’re using a charm to—”

“For the last time, it’s a muggle display!”

*one hour and twelve minutes after that*

“Moony. Look at this.”

“It’s a set of reindeer antlers.”

“I’m getting it for Prongs.”

Remus actually snorted. Why didn’t he think of that?

“He’ll love it.”

*ten minutes later*

“Oi! Moony! What’s this?”

“It’s a skateboard. Some muggles do tricks and stuff on them.”

“Wicked. Prongs’ll love it. Can it be charmed?”

“Maybe… You should get two then, just in case.”

“That’s why I love you, Moony, always so practical.”

*three minutes after*

“Oh!” Remus ducked into the bookstore on the third floor. “The new Stephen King novel! I forgot he released something in September. Damn, it’s still only available in hard copy.”

“What’s wrong with hard copies?” Sirius put his chin on Remus’s shoulder.

“Nothing really, they look brilliant on a bookshelf, but they’re really expensive.” Remus ignored the way his heart danced at the gesture.

Sirius ‘hmm’ed, then wandered a few feet away at the journal section.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a diary, you’ve seen those before. You stole Marlene’s in third year, remember?”

Sirius pondered for a moment, then broke out into a shit-eating grin. “Oh yeah! She perfected her stinging hex that day.”

“Always so helpful.”

“Hey, you know who would like this? Wormtail!”

Remus raised a scarred eyebrow.

“I’m serious!”

“I know you are.”

“Look at this one,” Sirius ignored his pun. “A daily inspirational quote to help you through your year. Brilliant. Oh, I can get him this fancy muggle pen too. Look, it's purple! Wormtail likes purple, doesn't he?”

12:09 p.m.

Remus tore into his pizza like no one was watching. 

Sirius was most definitely watching though. It was quite amusing.

“Sod off,” Remus said through a mouth full. “You’ve dragged me around for three hours now, and we’ve only got 3 presents so far.”

Sirius shrugged, then sat up straight as a brilliant thought crossed his mind.

“I’ve got it! Cheese.”

“Cheese?”

“The rest of Wormtail’s present. Cheese.”

“Brilliant. You going to get Prongs some carrots too?”

Sirius looked at him like he was a genius. Remus loved that look.

“I knew there was a reason I kept you around!”

“What about Lily?”

Sirius deflated again.

“Buggering hell, I’ve got nothing. This is why I didn’t date at school, well, part of the reason anyway, getting gifts for girls is so bloody difficult!”

“Well, what does she like?”

“Found out on Friday she loves alcohol. Especially scotch, did you see the way she finished off that bottle by herself?”

“I did, it was rather terrifying.”

“I’ll say.”

“Why don’t you get her a bottle of really expensive scotch?”

Sirius lit back up immediately.

“Bloody brilliant! What else can I get for her?”

“What else does she like?” Remus knew he was repeating himself, but it was for his best mate’s own good.

“She likes it when I don’t invite myself on her dates.” Sirius thought for a moment, then grabbed Remus’s hand across the table. “I can make her ‘Sirius-free day' coupons! Moony, why’d you go all red?”

“The pizza’s a bit hot,” Remus lied, trying not to pay attention to the hand that was currently being fondled. “Ahem, right, coupons. Lovely! We'll pick up some more craft supplies from Sarah's stop. Now, shall we stop at the pet store?”

Sirius’s eyebrows furrowed. He was still holding onto Remus’s hand. “The pet store? Why?”

“I think Professor McGonagall could use another cat toy this year, and I do believe she’s probably out of catnip.”

“Moony, you’re bloody brilliant. I love you.”

“I know.”


End file.
